Calgary Flames

 

For current news on this topic, see 2007-08 Calgary Flames season

Calgary Flames
Conference	Western
Division	Northwest
Founded	1972
History	Atlanta Flames 1972 - 1980 Calgary Flames 1980 - present
Home Arena	Pengrowth Saddledome
City	Calgary, Alberta
Colours	Red, Gold, Black, and White
Media	Rogers Sportsnet West Fan 960 (960 AM)
Owner(s)	Murray Edwards, Harley Hotchkiss, Alvin G. Libin, Allan P. Markin, Jeff McCaig, Clayton H. Riddell, Tony Sabelli, Byron J. Seaman, Daryl Seaman
General Manager	Darryl Sutter
Head Coach	Mike Keenan
Captain	Jarome Iginla
Minor League Affiliates	Quad City Flames (AHL) Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL)
Stanley Cups	1988-89
Conference Championships	1985-86, 1988-89, 2003-04
Division Championships	1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1993-94, 1994-95, 2005-06

The Calgary Flames are a professional hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and play out of the Pengrowth Saddledome. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Flames arrived in the city of Calgary in 1980 after spending their first eight seasons in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Flames. The Flames are the only NHL club to relocate from the United States to Canada, and are also the only NHL club to retain its nickname after a relocation. (The Dallas Stars shortened their name after moving from Minneapolis as the North Stars.) The Flames spent their first three seasons playing in the Stampede Corral, during which they lost only 32 games,^[1] before moving into the Olympic Saddledome in 1983.

Calgary's top rival are their Alberta cousins, the Edmonton Oilers. The two teams have often feuded in what is known as the Battle of Alberta, an always feisty event.^[2][3]

Franchise history

Atlanta years (1972-80)

For more details on this topic, see Atlanta Flames.

The Flames were the result of the NHL's first preemptive strike against the upstart World Hockey Association.^[4] In December 1971, the NHL hastily granted a team to Long Island — the New York Islanders — in order to keep the WHA's New York Raiders out of the brand new Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Needing another team to balance the schedule, the NHL awarded a team to an Atlanta-based group that owned the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks, headed by prominent local real estate developer Tom Cousins.^[5] Cousins named the team the "Flames" after the fire resulting from the March to the Sea in the American Civil War by General William Tecumseh Sherman, in which Atlanta was nearly destroyed.^[6]

The Flames were relatively successful early on. Under head coaches Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, Fred Creighton and Al MacNeil, the Flames made the playoffs in six of eight seasons in Atlanta. In marked contrast, their expansion cousins, the Islanders, compiled two of the worst seasons in NHL history during their first two years in the league. This relative success would not translate in the playoffs, however, as the Flames won only two post season games during their time in Atlanta.^[7]

Despite the on-ice success, the Atlanta ownership was never on sound financial footing. Part of the reason was that the Flames' home arena, The Omni, was one of the last arenas to be built without revenue-producing luxury boxes. Also, Cousins' initial calcuations did not account for the WHA entering the picture.^[8] The Flames were also victims of their own early success, which resulted in several low draft picks. At the same time, the Islanders used high draft picks resulting from their first two wretched seasons to put together the core of a team that would win four Stanley Cups in a row in the early 1980s.

In 1980, Cousins was in considerable financial difficulty, and was forced to sell the Flames to stave off bankruptcy. With few serious offers from local groups, he sold the Flames to a group of Calgary businessmen fronted by Canadian entrepreneur, and former owner of the Oilers, Nelson Skalbania.^[6] The price of US$16 million was the highest price paid for an NHL franchise at the time. Skalbania promptly moved the team to Calgary, but kept the Flames name since he figured it would be appropriate for an oil town like Calgary. The flaming "A" logo was replaced by a flaming "C" (the "A" was later brought back as the "A" on the alternate captains' jerseys). Skalbania sold his interest in 1981, and the Flames have been locally owned since.^[9]

Early Years in Calgary (1980-85)

Led by Kent Nilsson's 49-goal, 131-point season, the Flames stormed into the playoffs in their first season in Calgary with a 39-27-4 record, good for third in the Patrick Division. The team found much greater playoff success in Calgary than it did in Atlanta, winning their first two playoff series over the Chicago Black Hawks and Philadelphia Flyers before bowing out to the Minnesota North Stars in the semi-finals.^[10] This early success was not soon repeated. After a losing record in 1981-82, General Manager Cliff Fletcher jettisoned several former Atlanta players unused to a higher-pressure hockey environment and rebuilt the roster.^[11] Over the next three seasons, he put together a core of players that would remain together through the early 1990s. His efforts to match the Oilers, led him to draw talent from areas previously neglected by the NHL. The Flames were one of the first teams to sign large numbers of U.S. college players, including Joel Otto, Gary Suter, and Colin Patterson.^{[citation needed]} Fletcher also stepped up the search for European hockey talent, acquiring Hakan Loob and other key players. He was among the first to draft players from the Soviet Union, including HC CSKA Moscow star Sergei Makarov, but Soviet players were not released to Western teams until 1989.^[12] Still, the team was sufficiently improved to challenge the Oilers, who required the maximum seven games to defeat the Flames en route to their 1984 Stanley Cup Championship.

Glory years (1985-89)

Fletcher's roster moves in 1982 allowed the Flames to become one of the NHL's best teams during the mid-1980s and early 1990s. They failed to earn 90 points in the regular season only once from 1984 to 1991, but were usually unable to transfer that success into a deep playoff run. The NHL's playoff structure of the time made it very likely that the Flames would meet the Oilers in either the first or second round, rather than in the conference finals. Many observers thought that during the mid-1980s, the Oilers and Flames were far and away the two best teams in the Campbell Conference, and possibly the two best teams in the league. For example, the Flames had their first 100-point season in 1987-88, earning the Presidents' Trophy for having the league's best record, and ended the Oilers' six-year reign atop the Smythe Division in the process. However, they were swept by the Oilers in the second round of the playoffs. The two teams' bitter rivalry mirrored the longstanding rivalry between their two cities.

By 1986 the Flames had landed forwards Doug Risebrough, Lanny McDonald, Dan Quinn, defenceman Al MacInnis, and goalie Mike Vernon. They beat the Vancouver Canucks in the first round, beat the Oilers in the second round, with the series winning goal scored when Edmonton's Steve Smith's accidentally shot the puck off of Grant Fuhr's leg and into his own net in the deciding game, and also won in seven games over the St. Louis Blues, shaking off the famous "Monday Night Miracle" at The Arena - where Doug Wickenheiser scored in overtime to cap off a comeback from 5-2 down with 10 minutes to play - winning the deciding game at home. They were, however, no match for the Montreal Canadiens in the finals, losing in five games. Montreal rookie goaltender Patrick Roy, was nearly unstoppable in the last two games, allowing only four goals.

On March 7, 1988, the Flames traded away young future superstar Brett Hull along with Steve Bozek to the Blues for Rob Ramage and Rick Wamsley. Nonetheless, the Flames dominated the 1988-89 season. They won their second straight President's Trophy with 117 points--still a franchise record. They ran away with their second straight Smythe Division title, finishing 26 points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. In the playoffs, the Flames were stretched to seven games in the first round by the Canucks, relying on several key saves by goaltender Mike Vernon, before finally eliminating the Canucks in overtime. The Flames then made short work of the Kings, sweeping Los Angeles in four straight before defeating the Blackhawks in five to set up a rematch of the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals against Montreal. This time, the Flames won in six games, the last being a 4-2 win in Montreal. This victory was especially significant in that it marked the only time that an opposing team defeated the Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup on Montreal Forum ice.^[13] Longtime captain Lanny McDonald retired at the end of the season.

In 1989, thanks in part to Cliff Fletcher's diplomatic efforts, the Soviets finally gave permission for a select group of Soviet hockey players to sign with NHL teams. The first of these players was Sergei Pryakhin. Although Pryakhin never became an NHL regular, his arrival blazed a trail for the large numbers of Russian players who entered the NHL beginning in 1989-90.^[12] Sergei Makarov joined the Flames that season and, though already in his thirties, became the fifth Flame to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's Rookie of the Year. The selection would prove controversial, prompting the league to amend the rules to exclude any player over the age of 26 from consideration.^[14]

Decline (1990-2003)

In 1991, Fletcher left the Flames to become the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs after 18 years at the head of the organization.^[15] He was succeeded by Doug Risebrough, and the two quickly completed a ten player mega trade that saw disgruntled forward Doug Gilmour dealt to Toronto with four other players for former 50-goal scorer Gary Leeman and four others.^[16] The trade transformed both clubs. The formerly inept Leafs turned into a contender almost immediately, while the deal is widely believed to have been the beginning of the Flames' long decline.^[17] Despite the blossoming of Theoren Fleury into an NHL star, the Flames missed the playoffs entirely in 1992, only a year after finishing with their third 100-point season in franchise history. It was the first time the Flames had missed the playoffs since 1975, while they were still in Atlanta. It was also only the third time out of the playoffs for the franchise.

They rebounded to make the playoffs for the next three seasons, including two consecutive division titles. However, they failed to get out of the first round in either year. More importantly, the Flames found it increasingly difficult to hold onto their best players as salaries escalated in the 90s. The NHL's Canadian teams (with the notable exceptions of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) found it difficult to compete in the new environment. As a result, the collapse was sudden, swift and total. In 1997, a year after winning their second consecutive division title, the Flames missed the playoffs and would not return for seven years.

In 1999, the Flames traded Fleury rather than lose him to free agency. The deal occurred only a few days after he became the franchise's all-time leading scorer. One of the few bright spots in this stretch was Jarome Iginla. Iginla won the Rocket Richard and Art Ross Trophies in 2001-02 after scoring 52 goals and 96 points, his greatest point total to date. Iginla again won the Rocket Richard Trophy, tied with Rick Nash and Ilya Kovalchuk with 41 goals in 2003-04. Another bright spot for the team during this time was defenceman Robyn Regehr, who became the youngest nominee ever for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which recognizes perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, in his rookie year, despite suffering two broken legs in a car accident the previous summer.^[18]

2004 playoff run

Main article: 2003-04 Calgary Flames season

After seven consecutive seasons out of the playoffs, the Flames finally returned to the post-season in 2004. The Flames stunned the hockey world by defeating the three Western Conference division champions to become the first Canadian team in a decade to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.^[19] The Flames' first victim was the Northwest Division champion Vancouver Canucks, whom they defeated in seven games. It was the Flames' first playoff series win since they won the 1989 final.^[20]

The Flames then upset the Detroit Red Wings, who had garnered the league's best record that season, in six games. After eliminating the Pacific Division champs, the San Jose Sharks, in six games in the Western Conference finals, the Flames earned a trip to the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals to face the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. flew the Flames flag beside the Maple Leaf,^[21] The final series went to seven games, with the Flames suffering a controversial non-goal in game six at home. Replays showed that Martin Gelinas came close to scoring what would have been the go-ahead goal late in the third period, however the referees ruled it a non-goal, and later replays were ruled inconclusive. The Lightning would go on to win in double overtime,^[22] before winning game seven at home to capture the Stanley Cup. Interestingly, all of Calgary's series-winning goals during the playoffs were scored by Gelinas, including two in overtime.

Despite the loss, 30,000 fans packed into Olympic Plaza to celebrate the Flames run.^[23] The Flames would not raise their Western Conference championship banner for nearly 15 months, as the 2004-05 season was wiped out by a labour dispute.

Post lockout (2006-present)

The Flames roared through the 2005-06 season, finishing with 103 points — their best total since the 1989 Cup-winning season — and their first division title in 12 years. However, they lost to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games during the first round of the playoffs. Star goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff captured both the Vezina Trophy and the William M. Jennings Trophy, while rookie defenceman Dion Phaneuf set a franchise record for goals by a rookie blueliner with 20.^[24]

The 2006 Off-Season began with the surprising trade for Alex Tanguay, formerly of the Colorado Avalanche,^[25] and with Darryl Sutter relinquishing his head coaching position to assistant Jim Playfair to focus on his duties as General Manager.^[26]. On 12 December, 2006, the Flames broke a new franchise record for the most consecutive home wins, with 10 straight home wins. The Flames finished the year with 96 points, netting them an 8th-place finish in the tough Western Conference (seven teams finished with 100 or more points). The Flames fell in six games to the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings in the first round. The series essentially ended in Game 5, in which the Flames were assessed several penalties for stick-related infractions during a 5-1 loss. Most notably, backup goalie Jamie McLennan slashed Red Wings forward Johan Franzen in the stomach only 18 seconds after relieving Kiprusoff. McLennan was abruptly ejected from the game, causing Kiprusoff to return to the net, and suspended five games. Playfair and the Flames organization were also heavily fined, in part because the NHL made actions late in games that were out of hand a particular point of emphasis. ^[27]The Flames were eliminated the next night when the game winning overtime goal was scored, coincidentally, by Johan Franzen. Because the Flames lost, McLennan will have to sit out the first four games of the 2007-08 season.

The Flames named Mike Keenan their head coach on June 14, 2007, while former coach Jim Playfair was retained as Associate coach.

Noteworthy Events

The "Red Mile"

Main article: Red Mile

During the Flames' run to the Stanley Cup finals of 2004, the city of Calgary essentially became the host of a "non-stop party". The 17th Avenue SW entertainment district, which runs West from the Pengrowth Saddledome, flooded with as many as 80,000 red-clad fans after games. Similar celebrations had occurred during Flames celebrations during the 1980s and primarily took place along 11th Ave SW, then known as "Electric Avenue".

The Red Mile party became world-famous and received worldwide coverage in newspapers. The Red Mile was notable in that incidents were minimal, the crowds were positive, and only one arrest was made after a police officer was injured by a celebrant.

In April 2006, the Calgary Police Service announced that the Red Mile gatherings of 2004 would not be encouraged, and that measures would be taken to discourage it, including traffic diversions, a zero-tolerance policy on noise and rowdy behaviour, and the presence of plainclothes officers among the crowd to ticket offenders. After meeting with the Chief of Police, Mayor Dave Bronconnier convinced the Calgary Police Service to relax their ban on the "Red Mile" and encouraged people to make their way to 17th Ave. The police retained their zero tolerance policy on public nudity and drunkenness.

The "C of Red"

During the Flames' run to the Stanley Cup finals of 2004, most of the Flames fans attending the hockey games at the Saddledome wore a red jersey with the Flames' famous flaming C on it. Many of those who did not have a red jersey wore a red shirt instead. Thus, the "C" of Red became the nickname for the fans at the Saddledome during the Flames' playoff run, and the trend of an attendance dressed almost entirely in red continued throughout the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. The tradition of the C of Red dates back to the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Oilers. Oiler fans were donning hats promoting "Hat Trick Fever" in their quest for three straight Stanley Cups. Flames fans countered by wearing red. In the 1987 playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets, the Jets responded to the C of Red by encouraging fans to wear white, creating the Winnipeg White Out.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Flames. For the full season-by-season history, see Calgary Flames seasons

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Season	GP	W	L	T1	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
2001-02	82	32	35	12	3	79	201	220	1586	4th in Northwest	Did not qualify
2002-03	82	29	36	13	4	75	186	228	1391	5th in Northwest	Did not qualify
2003-04	82	42	30	7	3	94	200	176	1428	3rd in Northwest	Lost in Stanley Cup Finals, 3-4 (Lightning)
2004-05	Season cancelled due to 2004-05 NHL Lockout
2005-06	82	46	25	--	11	103	218	200	1464	1st in Northwest	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Mighty Ducks)
2006-07	82	43	29	--	10	96	258	226	--	3rd in Northwest	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Red Wings)

¹ As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Notable players

Current Roster

As of October 4, 2007 ^[28]

Goaltenders
Number		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
31		Curtis McElhinney	L	2002	London, Ontario
34		Miikka Kiprusoff	L	2003	Turku, Finland

Defencemen
Number		Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
3		Dion Phaneuf	L	2003	Edmonton, Alberta
6		Cory Sarich	L	2007	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
8		Anders Eriksson	L	2007	Bollnäs, Sweden
21		David Hale	L	2007	Colorado Springs, Colorado
28		Robyn Regehr – A	L	1999	Recife, Brazil
33		Adrian Aucoin	R	2007	Ottawa, Ontario
44		Rhett Warrener – A	R	2003	Shaunavon, Saskatchewan

Forwards
Number		Player	Position	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
7		Stephane Yelle – A	L	C	2002	Ottawa, Ontario
11		Owen Nolan – A	R	RW	2007	Belfast, United Kingdom
12		Jarome Iginla – C	R	RW	1995	Edmonton, Alberta
16		Mark Smith	L	C	2007	Edmonton, Alberta
17		Eric Godard	R	RW	2006	Vernon, British Columbia
18		Matthew Lombardi	L	C	2002	Montreal, Quebec
19		Wayne Primeau	L	C	2007	Scarborough, Ontario
20		Kristian Huselius	L	LW	2005	Österhaninge, Sweden
22		Daymond Langkow	L	C	2004	Edmonton, Alberta
24		Craig Conroy	R	C	2007	Potsdam, New York
25		David Moss	R	RW	2001	Livonia, Michigan
26		Marcus Nilson	R	LW	2004	Bålsta, Sweden
40		Alex Tanguay	L	LW	2006	Sainte-Justine, Quebec

Honoured Members

Hall of Famers:Several members of the Flames organization have been honoured by the Hockey Hall of Fame during the team's 27 year history in Calgary. Lanny McDonald was the first Flame player inducted, gaining election in 1992. McDonald recorded 215 goals in 492 games for the Flames, including a team record 66 goals in 1982-83. He was joined in 2000 by a fellow member of the 1989 Stanley Cup championship team, Joe Mullen. Mullen spent five seasons with the Flames, recording 388 points and capturing two Lady Byng Trophies. Grant Fuhr became the third former Flames player to enter the Hall, having been elected in 2003. Fuhr played only one season in Calgary, however he recorded his 400th career win in a Flames uniform with a victory over the Florida Panthers on October 22, 1999.^[29]

Former head coach "Badger" Bob Johnson joined McDonald in the class of 1992, gaining election as a builder. Johnson coached five seasons with the Flames from 1982-87, and his 193 wins remains a team record. Cliff Fletcher was the Flames general manager from the organizations inception in 1972 until 1991 - a span of 19 years. During that time, the Flames qualified for the playoffs sixteen consecutive times between 1976 and 1991. Fletcher was inducted in 2004. Harley Hotchkiss became the third builder to gain election in 2006. Hotchkiss is an original member of the ownership group that purchased and brought the Flames to Calgary in 1980. He has served many years as the chairman of the NHL Board of Directors, during which he played a significant role in the resolution of the 2004-05 lockout.^[29]

Flames radio broadcaster Peter Maher was named the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2006 for his years of service as the radio play by play announcer for the Calgary Flames. During his career, Maher has called Flames games since 1981, six All-Star Games, and four Stanley Cup Finals.^[29]

Former Flames defenseman Al MacInnis will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

Retired Numbers: The Flames have retired numbers 9 for Lanny McDonald (RW, 1981-89) and 30 for Mike Vernon (G, 1982-94 & 2000-02). Number 99 for Wayne Gretzky was retired league-wide in 2000.

Team captains

Fourteen players have permanently worn the captain's C since the team arrived in Calgary:^[30]

* - Co/Tri-Captains

First round draft picks

Further information: Calgary Flames draft history

Franchise scoring leaders

Further information: Calgary Flames records

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Flames (both Atlanta and Calgary). Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, P/G = Points Per Game, * = Active Player

Player	POS	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Theoren Fleury	RW	791	364	466	830	1.05
Al MacInnis	D	803	213	609	822	1.02
*Jarome Iginla	RW	778	324	340	664	.85
Joe Nieuwendyk	C	577	314	302	616	1.07
Gary Suter	D	617	128	437	565	.92
Kent Nilsson	C	425	229	333	562	1.32
Guy Chouinard	C	514	193	336	529	1.03
Gary Roberts	LW	585	257	248	505	.86
Eric Vail	LW	539	206	246	452	.84
Paul Reinhart	D	517	109	336	445	.86

NHL awards and trophies

Trivia

• Harvey the Hound, created in 1983, was the first mascot in the NHL.^[31]
• The Calgary Flames' alternate captains wear the Atlanta Flames' logo, the stylized "A", on their jerseys. This makes them one of only four NHL teams who wear an old logo on their current jersey (the others being the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Vancouver Canucks).

See also

• List of NHL players
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• National Hockey League rivalries
• List of ice hockey teams in Alberta
• Ice hockey in Calgary
• Calgary Tigers
• Calgary Cowboys

External links

• Calgary Flames official Web Site

References